Coffee Table Books

Display your love of the ocean with these splashy titles.

Underwater Wild: My Octopus Teacher’s Extraordinary World

• Authors: Craig Foster and Ross Frylinck; introduction by Jane Goodall

• Price: $50
• 
Release Date: November 16, 2021
• Publisher: Mariner Books


Craig Foster, filmmaker behind the hit Netflix documentary My Octopus Teacher, partners with his dive buddy Ross Frylinck to take you deeper into Foster’s octopus co-star’s home: the Great African Seaforest. Underwater Wild shares the sweeping story of Frylinck learning to freedive without a wetsuit in the cold waters off South Africa and provides tips on how to track underwater creatures, from cuttlefish to limpets. During their journey, the pair witness never-before-documented marine behaviors. Through words and visual storytelling, the authors aim to reconnect readers with the wild world over this book’s 344 pages.

Photographs of Submerged Worlds: The Allure of the Deep

• Author and Photographer: Vincenzo Paolillo
• 
Price: $60
• 
Release Date: November 30, 2021
• Publisher: Skira Editore

Italian photographer Vincenzo Paolillo takes readers on a fantastical journey through the ocean, sorting his images along five themes: colors, shapes, places, movements and light. The pictures are curated from Paolillo’s years as an underwater photographer in salt and fresh water, with subjects spanning from nudis to kelp to wrecks to coral. Each of the 200 photos includes information about the subject and where the picture was taken.

National Geographic Ocean: A Global Odyssey

• Author: Sylvia Earle
• 
Price: $65

• Release Date: November 16, 2021
• Publisher: National Geographic

Her Deepness is back with a richly illustrated guide to the world’s oceans, giving readers the opportunity to hear from one of the world’s most famous oceanographers how the seas shape our climate and support our lives. Earle digs into the ocean’s evolution, challenges and opportunities to make clear why “everyone, everywhere is inextricably connected to and utterly dependent upon the existence of the sea.” Her text is paired with an awe-inspiring collection of images that celebrate the diversity of marine life, as well as more than 100 maps and diagrams.

Kids Books

Engage young readers in the wonder of the undersea world.

The Lost Ship

• Author: Jeff Lucas

• Price: $19.95

• Release Date: October 8, 2021
• Publisher: BookBaby

Sixth-grader Jack breaks scuba protocol when he dives solo in his local Bounty Bay. But he’s not alone after meeting a talking octopus named Armstrong, who tells Jack about a wooden ship he once saw in the deep. The two friends set off to make “one of the greatest maritime discoveries in history”—if they can get there before the nefarious treasure hunters. Ten percent of net proceeds from sales of this book are donated to the Nature Conservancy.

Planet Ocean: Why We All Need a Healthy Ocean

• Author: Patricia Newman
• Photographer: Annie Crawley
• Price: $34.65

• Release Date: March 2, 2021
• Publisher: Millbrook Press

Geared toward readers ages 9 to 14, this thoughtfully illustrated chapter book puts the voices of local and Indigenous environmentalists, many of whom are young people themselves, front and center to explain threats to the ocean and what they are doing to help save it. Underwater photographer and Scuba Diving columnist Annie Crawley’s images transport readers to three unique ecosystems—the Coral Triangle, the Salish Sea and the Arctic—to illustrate the ocean’s interconnected nature and the ways anyone can make a positive impact on the marine environment.

The Tales of Scuba Steve: Honu’s Reef

• Author: Steven Kamlet
• Illustrator: Shannon Marsolais
• Price: $9.99

• Release Date: December 1, 2020
• Publisher: Mascot Books

Ben excitedly returns to Camp Oneega, where he is over the moon when asked to join Scuba Steve’s swim group this summer! He and his friends are teleported to Hawaii, where they adventure through the reefs with Scuba Steve and Honu, a local sea turtle. The story is written for fourth- to sixth-grade reading levels and is inspired by author Steven Kamlet’s nearly 40 years as a summer camp swim teacher, where the PADI Divemaster is 
a superhero known as Scuba Steve. Illustrator Shannon Marsolais is a 15-year-old former swim student. Proceeds from the book support marine conservation work and send children to summer camp through the Scuba Steve Scholarship Fund.

MORE DIVE BOOKS: Summer Reads for Scuba Divers